Camera



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. G. G. BRAGG.

OAMERA.

No. 339,736, Patented Apr. 13, 1886.

FIG-.1. FIG-.3.

FIG-Y.

FIG-8.

r eak! 1] flFI e (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. G. G. BRAGG.

CAMERA.

No. 339,736. PatentedA 13, 1886.

IIIIII i n mus. Hob-CW WM- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OAIUS O. BRAGG, OF AVONDALE, OHIO.

CAMERA.

=3PEC'IFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,736, dated April13, 1886.

Serial No. 170,472.

(No modctl T wZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ,CAIUS G. BRAGG, a citizen of the United States,residing at Avondale, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cameras, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention .relates to these cameras which are employed for takingphotographic and other sun pictures and the first part of myimprovements consists in providing such instruments with an adjustablesecondary or auxiliary lens that is used for focusing the main lens.This secondary lens, which is usually less in diameter and shorter infocus than the main lens, is adapted to throw its picture on a groundglass fitted within the camera, and thereby indicate when the main lensis in focus, it being understood that the two lenses bear a certainknown proportion to each other, as hereinafter more fully described.

The second part of my improvements comprises a novel combination ofdevices where with the two lenses are simultaneously shifted or adjustedin exact proportion to their relative focusing power, as hereinaftermore fully described.

The third part of my improvements consists in providing a camera with aflexible shutter capable of being uncoiled from one drum and wound uponanother, so as to give either an instantaneous or time exposure, as maybe desired. This flexible shutter has an opening in it which allows thelight from the main lens to pass through and act on the plate or othersensitized medium fitted within the camera, as hereinafter more fullydescribed.

The fourth part of my improvements comprises a novel combination ofdevices, wherewith the various movements of the flexible shutter arereadily effected by the operator, as hereinafter more fully described.

The fifth part of my improvements com prises a novel combination ofdevices, whereby a single clutch-shaft is caused to perform the twofoldpurpose of adjusting the main and auxiliary lenses and operating theflexible shutter, as hereinafter more fully described.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improvedcamera. Fig. 2 is a plan of a portion of the top of the same. Fig. 3 isa view of the camera after the front end has been removed therefrom.Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of the instrument, said section beingtaken in the plane of the lever H. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of thecamera taken in the plane of the auxiliary lens O. Fig. 6 is an enlargedplan of the clutch-shaft that operates the lenses and the flexibleshutter. Fig. 7 is a transverse section of said shaft. Fig. 8 is amodification of the rack and pinion that operate the lenses of theinstrument.

Figs. 9 andlO are modifications of the devicesfor communicating motionfrom the main lens to the lever that shifts or adjusts the secondarylens. Fig. 11 is a horizontal section of a portion of the camera, saidsection being taken in the plane of the main lens B. Fig. 12 is a rearelevation of the flexible shutter, said device being shown coiled uponthe solid drum, so as to cut off the light from the main lens. Fig. 13is a similar elevation, but showing the shutter partially coiled aroundthe hollow drum or cylinder, so as to admit the light from the mainlens. Fig. 1 L is a horizontal section of the shutter uncoiled from thesolid drum. Figs. 15,16, and 17 are enlarged plans, showing in differentpositions the pawls that arrest the revolution of the solid drum. Fig.18 is a plan of the stop-lever of said drum. Fig. 19 is an enlargedaxial section of the hollow drum or cylinder. Fig. 20 is a modificationof the device that operates said cylinder. Fig. 21 includes twoelevations of the cam-disk of the solid drum. Fig. 22 includes alongitudinal section and plan of the preferred arrangement of deviceswherewith the shaft of the hollow drum is coupled to the supportingframeor housin The boX or camera A,which may be of any suitable size, shape,and material, has fitted in its front an end piece,A,pierced at ac toadmit light to the main lens B and secondary or auxiliary lens 0, theformer being mounted in a customary telescopic tube,b b,of which tubethe adjustable section b has an ordinary rack, I), applied thereto. Thisrack engages with a pinion, (Z, on one end of a shaft, D,whose other endis confined within a clutch-shaft,E, being coupled thereto by atransvcre pin, (1, that thereby cause it to move steadily and withouttraverses the longitudinal slot e of said clutchshaft, as seen in Figs.6 and 7. Furthermore, this clutch-shaft carries a disk, F, slotted at f,to permit free passage of the pin d, the extreme outer end of said shaftbeing provided with a milled head or knob, e, wherewith itis readilyoperated. 'The adjustable section b, that carries the main lens B, has ashade, G, from which depends a pin, g, traversing the forked end it of alever, H, the latter being fulcru med to the camera at h. e

h is alongitudinal slot in said lever to admit a pin,I,that depends froman upper plate, 2', and passes through a hole in a lower plate, i,whichlatter is securely soldered to the lever H. The upper plate,i,issoldered to a shank, j, of the shil'table tube J, that carries theauxilary lens O,said tube Jbeing adjustable within a fixed tube, 0,applied to the chamber K. The shank j traverses a slot, c,in the lowerside of fixed tube 0, and also passes through aslot, k,in the bottom ofchamber K, the latter being furnished with a mirror, It, a groundglassJs, and a door or'lid, k, capable of being readily opened andclosed.

The object of soldering the two plates z i to the shank j and lever H,respectively, is 'to afford an extended bearing for said shank,and

any material tremor while traveling along the slots 0 k, which lattermay be flanked with a pair of guide-plates, Z Z, as more clearly seen inFig. 4. v

Completely dividing the camera, and placed at a suitable distance inrear of the front end therof, is a partition, L, having a centralciroular opening, Z, which is inline with the fixed section b ofthemain-lens tube, as more clearly seenin Figs. 11, 13, and 14. The rearside of this partition has secured to it a pair of parallel plates, M M,that support a fixed shaft,.m, and a revolving shaft, m,the former ofwhich occupies an axial position within a hollow drum or cylinder, N,which must be so arranged. as to automatically coil the flexible shutterthereon. Thepreferred method of accomplishing this result is seen inFig. 19,where a coiled spring, at, is wound round the shaft m, and hasone end attached thereto,while the opposite end of said spring issecured to the cylinder N. Fastened to the other shaft, m,so as torevolve therewith, is a solid drum, N, to which is secured one end of aflexible shutter, O, the other end thereof being attached to thecylinder 1. This shutter may be made of any material capable of being.readily wound around these drums N N, and is provided with an opening,0, that exposes the opening Z" of the partitionL, when said shutter isproperly shifted, as seen in Fig. 13.

Securely fastened to the lower end of shaft m is a grooved wheel, P, towhich is attached one end of a cord or thong or light chaimp, that iscarried through the partition L, and thence out at the side of thecamera, the'exposed extremity of said cord being provided with aconvenient pull, 17. (Seen in Figs. 1,

1' orwith the tooth r of the cam-diskRis the lowermost pawl, S, of apair of pawls, S S,

2, and 3.) Projecting from the periphery of the free endof a stop-lever,Q, the latter being hinged to the plate M at q, and having a stump, thattraverses the 'slot m of said plate. The upper end of shaft on hasimmovably secured to it a cam-shaped disk, It, provided with a shoulder,1-, extending completely 5 across its face, and a tooth, 1", thatextends only about half-way across said face, the pel culiar arrangementof these teeth being more clearlyseen inFig. 21.

Adapted to engage either with the shoulder hung upon a common pivot, T,which pivot is tapped into the upper plate, M. The upper pawl, S,however, is adapted to engage 8 i only with the shoulder r, and isprovided with a pin, 8, that enters a slot, 8, of the lower pawl, andthereby communicates motion to the latter.

t is a spring that maintains the lower pawl, 0 I S, in its normalposition, and t is a stop that limits the opening swing of the upperpawl, S. Attached to the lower pawl, S, is one end of a cord, thong, orlight chain, U, which, after being passed through the partition L, hasits other extremity fastenedto the upper end of a lever, V, the latterbeing pivoted to said partition, as seen ate in Fig. 3. Furthermore, thelower end of this lever is forked at v, to admit the edge of disk F, asseen in Figs..4 and 7 .7

- Attached to the upper pawl, S, is one end of a cord. or thong or lightchain, U, which is passed through the partition L, thence over a sheave,a, and is finally attached to the upper end of the lever V. g

. The preferred method of fitting the fixed shaft on within the plate Mis seen in Fig. 22, where said shaft is represented as provided with oneor more lateral pins or other-projections, w, adapted to enter slots Vin said late.

p X is a washer interposed between said plate and the head of a screw,Y, the latter being tapped in the end of shaft m, and the extremity ofthe shaft being nicked or grooved at Z, to admit ascrew-driver orv othersimilar implement. It will be seen that by disengaging the screw Y theshaft m can be shifted longitudinally, so as to free the pins to fromthe slots W, and a screw-driver being now inserted in the nick Z, saidshaft can be turned either to the right or left until the desiredtension has been imparted to the spring a, (seen in Fig. 19,) afterwhich act the shaft is shifted back to its. normal position and retainedin place by the screw, the pins 10 serving to prevent said shaft beingturned by the tension of the spring.

The method of operating myimproved camera is as follows: I will supposethat the spring a has been allowed to exercise its force and 1 has woundthe flexible shutter 0 around the 1 cylinder N, thereby uncoiling saidshutter wheel 1?, as seen in Fig. 13.

from the drum N, as represented in Fig. 14, and winding the cord 1)around the grooved This act causes the lug p of said wheel to strikeagainst the under edge of lever Q and force the latter aside until saidlever assumes the position indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 18. Thestump q is thus brought in contact with the appropriate end of the slotm, thereby causing the device Q. to act as a stop-lever, that arreststhe rotation of the drum N at the properposition. Cord p is now pulledto uncoil it from the grooved wheel P, which act uncoils the shutterfrom the cylinder N and winds it around the drum N, as seen in Fig. 11,thereby imparting considerable tension to the Spring a, confined withinsaid cylinder. Furthermore, when the drum N is thus turned, the lug p ofthe wheel P strikes against the lever Q, as shown by the heavy lines inFig. 18, thereby bringing the stump q in contact with the other end ofslot m and preventing said drum being turned too far. Asensitized plateis then inserted in the rear portion of the camera, and the apparatus isat once ready for immediate use, no light being now admitted to act onsaid plate, because the imperforate portion of the flexible shutter isclosing the opening Z in the partition L. \Vhen the operator arrives ata suitable place, presuming he is engaged in taking outdoor-pictures, heopens the door k and turns the knob (1, so as to either advance orretract the auxiliary lens 0, until a sharp and well-defined picture isthrown upon the ground glass it". The moment this is done he knows themain lens B is also in proper focus, because the two lenses are socoupled together as to render it impossible to focus one without at thesame time focusing the other. Having thus obtained the proper focus ofthe main lens without admitting a ray of light into the camera, the nextproceeding will be determined by the kind of exposure requiredthat is tosay, whether it shall be an instantaneous or time exposure, and,presuming the latter has been determined on, the operation will be asfollows: Knob e is pulled so as to advance the clutchshaft E and causeits disk F to swing the lower end of lever 'V in the direction indicatedby the double-headed arrow in Fig. 3, which movement of shaft E does notin the least interfere with the shaft D and pinion d, because the formershaft, E, slides freely along the latter shaft, D; but this movement ofthe clutchshaft pulls the cord U, that connects with the upper pawl, S,and the latter communicates its motion to the lower pawl, S, by means ofthe pin .9 coming in contact with the appropriate end of slot s.Consequently these two pawls move together, and are simultaneously freedfrom the extended shoulder r of camdisk R, with which they wereautomatically engaged by the stress of spring t the instant the flexibleshutter was wound around the drum N. Said drum being thus unlocked,there is now nothing to prevent the coiled spring a exerting its forceagainst the cylinder N, which latter is accordingly turned so as to windthe shutterO thereon. It is evident this coiling of the shutter on thecylinder must cause a corresponding unwinding of the drum N, and as soonas the latter has made a halfrevolution it is arrested by the lowerpawl, S, engaging with the tooth 7'; but the other pawl, S, is not nowthrown in lock with the cam-disk B, because said tooth extends onlyacross a portion of the face of said disk. This half-revolution of thedrum Nbrings the opening 0 of the shutter in line with the opening Z ofthe partition L, as seen in Fig. 13, and thereby affords the desiredexposure. After the proper time has elapsed the operator presses againstthe knob e, thereby causing the disk F to swing the lower end of lever Vin the direction of the single-headed arrow, (seen in Fig. 3,) andpulling the cord U, so as to release the lower paw], S, from the toothr. This act leaves the spring it again at liberty to exercise its force,and causes a further revolution of cylinder Nuntil the lug p again comesin contact with the stop-lever Q and both pawls engage with the shouldera". The shutter is now coiled around the cylinder N and the light iscompletely out off from the main lens, as seen in Fig. 14, and theabovedescribed operations are repeated as often as it is desired to makea time exposure, but when an instantaneous exposure is desired the knobe is simply pressed so as to disengage both of the pawls from the camdisk and allow the drum N to make one complete revolution at the verystart, no stoppage of said drum being allowed at a half-turn of thesame, because the pressure against said knob is maintained until thelug 1) comes in contact with the stop-lever Q. For this reason the lowerpawl, S, does not now engage with the tooth r at the half-turn of thedrum N, and as the shutter is thus uninterruptedly coiled on thecylinder N the passage of the opening 0 across the hole Z" of thepartition L occupies but the very shortest interval of time. Althoughthisadmission of light through the opening Z and the cutting off of therays occupies but a moment,yet itis sufficient to produce what is knownas an instantaneous exposure that affords a sharp and well-definedpicture on a properly-sensitized plate.

From the above description it is apparent that the arrangement ofpinion-shaft D (Z d and clutch-shaft E e e F is such as to enable saidshafts to perform the twofold purpose of adjusting the main andsecondary lenses and also of operating the automatic shutter, therebyreducing the complexity of the instrument and allowing the camera to beoperated with the greatest convenience.

Instead of employing the lever H for communicating motion from the mainto the sec ondary lens, the shaft D may have two pinions, D D, ofunequal diameters, as seen in Fig. 8, which pinions should engagerespect IIO IIS

ively with'the racks B O of the primary and secondary lenses B O. Thediameters of these pinions -D' Dmust be in exact proportion to the powerof the two lenses BC, in order that the focusing of the smaller one willinsure the proper adjustment of the larger lens; but in Fig. 9 the shadeG, is shown as capable of being turned either to the right or to theleft, so as to cause the pin 9 to advance toward or recede from theforked end h of the le er H and thereby regulate the stroke of thelatter.

In Fig. 10 is shown an arrangement of devices whereby the stroke of thelever can be regulated with the utmost nicety, so as to compensate forvery slight differences in the focusing power of the two lenses B and 0.Here the pin 9 is either advanced or retracted by means of a screw, 9,which latter turns within a bearing, G, secured to the tube that carriesthe main lens.

- In Fig. 20 is shown a substitute for the coiled spring a, an elasticthong, n, being provided, one end of which is attached to a wheel, n, onthe end of the shaft m,.while the other end of said thong is fastened tothe plate M. This construction would necessitate the cylinder N turningwith said shaft.

The provision of the cam-disk R r r causes the pivoted pawls S S to actwithout produc ing any seriousjar or concussion of the camera.

I am aware it is not new to provide a camera with a secondary or findinglens,which is fixed within the apparatus, and is incapable of beingadjusted to designate when the main lens is exactly in focus. Such afixed findinglens is therefore expressly disclaimed as constituting anypart of my invention.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, in a camera, of a pair ofdissimilar lenses coupled together for simultaneous adjustment,substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, in a camera, of a secondary lens adjusted by a levercoupled tothe main lens, the latter being operated by a rack and pinion,substantially as herein described.

3. The combination, in a camera, of a secondary lens adjusted by a levercoupled to the main lens, thelatter being operated by a .rack and pinionactuated by a shaft that controls the shutter of the instrument,substantially as herein described.

4. The combination, in a camera, of a secondary lens adjusted by alever'coupled to the main lens, the latter being operated by a rack andpinion actuated by a shaft that controls a shutter capable of affordingeither an instantaneous or time exposure, substantially as hereindescribed.

5. The combination, in a camera, of the adjustable main lens B b,adjustable secondary lens 0 J, pin 9, pivoted lever H h h, and shank j,for the purpose described.

6. The combination, in a camera, of the adjustable main lens Bb,adjustable secondary lens 0 J, pin 9 pivoted lever H h h, shank j,

7. Thecombination, in a camera, of a .flexi ble shutter havingasuitableopening and capable of being uncoiled from one drum and wound aroundanother drum, for the purpose of affording either atime or instantaneousexposure, said drums being journaled within the camera and one of thembeing provided with a pair of stops that engage with lockingpawls, thelatter. being coupled to a swinging lever actuated by an external pull,as e, in order that said inclosed shutter may be operated withoutopening the camera, substantially as herein described.

8. The combination, in acamera, of a flexible shutter having a suitableopening and capable of beinguncoiled from one drum and automaticallywound around another drum,

for the purpose of afi'ording either a time or closed shutter .may beoperated without open-- ing the camera, substantially as hereindescribed.

9. The combinati-on,-in a camera, of a flexible shutter having asuitable opening and capable of being uncoiled from one drum andautomaticallywound around another drum, for the purpose of affordingeither a time or instantaneous exposure, said drums being journaledwithinthe camera and one of them having a spring coiled therein, whilethe other drum is provided with a pair of stops that engage withlocking-pawls, the latter being coupled to a swinging lever actuated byan external pull, as e, in order that said inclosed shuttermay beoperatedwithout opening the camera, substantially, as herein described.

10. The combination, in a camera, of the flexible shutter 0 0, havingits oppositeends secured to the cylinder N and drum N, said cylinderbeing operated by the spring n, coiled within it, and the drum N beingprovided with cord 1), grooved pulley P, cam-wheel R, stops 0' 1",pivoted pawls S 8 S 5, spring t, cords U U10, and swinging lever V, forcoiling said shutter thereon, for locking the drum, and for liberatingthe latter, so as to afford either an instantaneous or time exposure, asherein described.

11. In combination with the flexible shutter 0 o, attachedto thespring-cylinder N n and drum N, in the manner herein described,

the shouldered and toothed cam-disk R r r, pivoted pawls S S T, pin 8,slot 8, spring t, stop 15, and devices that operate said pawls, for the.purpose stated.

12. In combination with the flexible shutter 0 0, attached to thespring-cylinderN n and drum N ,in themanner herein described,

IIO

aamlao the lug p", pivoted stop-lever Q q q, and slot grooved wheel I,and cord 1), which cord is m, for the purpose stated. wound around saidwheel when said shutter 13. In combination with the pivoted pawls isuncoiled from said drum N, as herein de- S s S s T, arrangedto operatewith the shoulscribed. dered and toothed cam-disk R 0' 'r, in the I Intestimony whereof I aifix my signaturein manner described, the cords UU", and pivpresence of two witnesses. oted lever V 1;, the letter beingprovided with a fork e, that admits the disk F of the recip- CAIUSBRAGG' rocating shaft E, for the purpose stated.

14. The combination, in a camera, of springoylinder N 'n, drum N,flexible shutter O 0,

\Vitnesses:

JAMES H. LAYMAN, AARON E. MooRE.

